1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a motor vehicle sun visor and more specifically to a sun visor having a secondary transparent tinted visor which can be folded or extended below the manufacturer""s opaque visor for the purposes of blocking headlights or sun light on a need be basis.
One embodiment provides for the attachment, of a piece of transparent material to the lower edge of the visor by means of a hinge which allows the transparent material to be flipped down to block strong light rays. Another embodiment provides for an apparatus which is clipped onto the top edge of the manufacturer""s visor and extends down the back side having hinged and telescopic means whereby the apparatus can be extended below the opaque visor to block out strong light rays or the opaque visor can be left in the inoperative position and the apparatus can be folded down, having hinges, and using the aforementioned telescopic means, can be selectively extended. Another additional embodiment would replace the manufacturer""s visor with another visor having within said visor a cavity with a number of selectable tinted transparent visors having slidably extendable means and being placed so that a portion of said visors extend beyond the lower edge of the casing visor in the form of a tab whereby a selection of tints are available.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There are other windshield visor extension device designed for blocking strong light rays. Typical of these is U.S. Pat. No. 5,842,748 issued to Cummins on Dec. 1, 1998.
Another patent was issued to Cimmino on Nov. 3, 1998 as U.S. Pat. No. 5,829,816. Yet another U.S. Pat. No. 5,711,570 was issued to Wu et al. on Jan. 27, 1998 and another was issued on Sep. 2, 1997 to Gera et al. as U.S. Pat. No. 5,662,371 and still yet another patent was issued to Stroth on Jun. 24, 1999 as U.S. Pat. No. 2,422,863.
A sun visor (10) for a motor vehicle comprises an opaque visor member (12) with internal guide tracks (24) for receiving a support rail (22) of a transparent, glare reducing panel (20). The glare reducing panel is movable between a retracted position within the visor member and an extended position in which it creates a non-glare visual region below the opaque visor member. An additional, smaller panel (38) may overlie a portion of panel (20) and be adjustable in position, to create an enhanced glare reduction portion which may be aligned with the direction of the sun.
A vehicle sun visor attachment which includes a glare shield that can be adjusted transversely of the vehicle and can also be pivoted downwardly to increase the effective width of the sun visor. In one form of the invention, the glare shield can also be adjusted to effectively block light rays entering the vehicle side window.
A telescopic glare shield is provided with an outer shelter and an inner shade board which is adjustably engaged with the outer shelter. The inner shade board has a bulged top end having a mushroom shaped cross section which can be in frictional contact with the inner faces of the outer shelter so as to constantly retain the shade board in place. The outer shelter has a longitudinal extended opening for the passage of the inner shade board and a pair of parallel stop flanges are defined on the edges of opening so as to prevent the inner shade board from disengagement from the outer shelter when pulled down to the bottommost end.
A sun visor glare reducing extension for incorporation within a vehicle""s sun visor is disclosed having a three sided rigid frame capable of being incorporated within a vehicle""s sun visor. The frame has a back frame member pivotally affixed to a pair of generally parallel leg segments at each end. Each leg segment forms a xe2x80x9cUxe2x80x9d shaped retaining channel. A glare shield slidably retained within the xe2x80x9cUxe2x80x9d shaped retaining channels, and is deployable in a linear manner from the edge of an otherwise conventional sun visor.
This United States Patent discloses a motor vehicle windshield visor having an adjustable section constructed of translucent material, which may be readily extended beyond one longitudinal edge of the main section of the visor, thereby providing a shield for the eyes of the operator of the motor vehicle, against sun rays or light rays from approaching motor vehicle headlights. The invention provides a windshield visor having a compartment for the adjustable section, so that the adjustable section may be moved to a position concealed within the main section of the visor. Further said windshield visor provides means for automatically securing the extension section in various positions of adjustment with respect to the main section. While these windshield visors may be suitable for the purposes for which they were designed, they would not be as suitable for the purposes of the present invention, as hereinafter described.
It is believed that none of these prior art devices incorporate features such as the ability to selectively attach and detach an extension of the present opaque visor as well as pivoting the opaque visor to a non-operative position while the present invention is in an adjustable operative position. In addition an alternate embodiment is provided wherein a number of selectable tinted transparencies are provided for those people or conditions where one color is more suitable than another. Such as, a light amber tint over a dark green tint while driving through areas where you drive from dark shade to bright light such as in the mountains. The extent of the usefulness of the visor extension is not limited to motor vehicle but could just as well be clipped onto a windshield of a boat where it could be extended up as well as down.
Therefore it is believed that a need exists for one or all of the embodiments as described and illustrated herein.
The present invention provides a windshield visor having a hingedly extendable transparent member. One embodiment provides for the attachment of a piece of tinted transparent material, by means of a hinge, wherein said tinted transparent material can be flipped down, especially in a hazardous condition, to block strong light rays.
Another embodiment provides for a device which is clipped onto the top edge of the manufacturer""s visor and having hinged and telescopic means that can be extended below the manufacturer""s visor to block out strong light rays or the manufacturer""s visor can be left in the inoperative position and the device can be folded down using the aforementioned hinges, and having telescopic means that, can be selectively extended below the manufacturer""s visor.
Another additional embodiment would replace the manufacturer""s visor with another visor having a cavity with a number of slidably selectable tinted transparent members being placed so that a portion of said visor members extends beyond the lower edge of the casing visor in the form of a tab providing means for selecting a particular member.
A primary object of the present invention is to provide a tinted transparent extension to a windshield visor which can be easily and quickly engaged to block strong light rays.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a tinted transparent extension to a windshield visor which is hinged to the bottom edge of the manufacturer""s visor and can be folded down to block strong light rays on a selectable basis.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus which can be clipped to the top edge of the manufacturer""s visor and can be telescopically extended down beyond the manufacturer""s visor to block strong light rays on a selectable basis.
A yet further object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus which can be clipped to the top edge of the manufacturer""s visor having hinged means for folding down independently and can be telescopically extended to a selectable position to block strong light rays.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a visor having a selection of different tints to choose from.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a visor having a selection of different tinted members which can be selectively extended from within a compartment.
Additional objects of the present invention will appear as the description proceeds.
To the accomplishment of the above and related objects, this invention may be embodied in the form illustrated in the accompanying drawings, attention being called to the fact, however, that the drawings are illustrative only, and that changes may be made in the specific construction illustrated and described within the scope of the appended claims.